STV makes Edinburgh news pilot permanent

The broadcaster’s early evening news service for Edinburgh and the east of Scotland was launched as a pilot in May, comprising a complete split in its previous Central Scotland service into Glasgow and Edinburgh half-hour services.

Announcing the decision, STV says: “This means that STV will broadcast three distinct 30-minute programmes each evening: one for the east, one in the west, and a dedicated programme for the north of Scotland, including a bulletin for the Dundee and Tayside area. STV news operations around the country will retain full editorial control and autonomy over their respective regions.”

John MacKay will continue to present STV News at Six in the west; Juliette Dunlop will anchor the east programme; Norman Macleod and Andrea Brymer as the presenters for the north; and Susan Nicholson is the presenter for the Dundee opt.

Adds the company: “STV’s audience share at 6pm goes from strength to strength, and has increased 11 per cent year-on-year (June-September) across Scotland, with around half a million viewers watching each weeknight, and the on-air service reaching over 1.7 million viewers per week. News is the most popular area of our website, with over half a million unique users visiting stv.tv/news each month.”

The broascaster also announced the launch date for a new, 30-minute news and current affairs programme to go head-to-head with Newsnight, later in the evening. Scotland Tonight will start at 10.30pm on the 24th of this month.